A Twist in the Story
by Bsalvatore
Summary: What happens when Rachel finds Quinn at the bookstore and the two instantly realize they need each other during the summer? Will boyfriends, an overbearing mother, and unwanted feelings get in the way?
1. Chapter 1

"Quinn?"

The blonde flinched at the sound of her name and buried her head deeper in the book she was currently reading. Cursing herself for not finding a better hiding spot, Quinn dearly hoped that it wasn't any of her co-workers for she knew they would rat her out. It couldn't be her boss because Daniel, constantly high, could barely remember her name let alone that she even worked in Lima's only bookstore. Having worked here for two weeks now, she had discovered that the travel section was the least visited for the fact that barely anyone in Lima made it out of the state. Quinn also came to realization that people didn't really visit this bookstore and had taken it upon herself to hide out in the travel section until her shift was up.

Looking up with dread, Quinn was surprised to see the one and only Rachel Berry before her dressed in tiny white shorts that emphasized her bronze skin. "Oh. Rachel. It's just you." Quinn said with relief and closed her book.

"Who were you expecting?" Rachel asked with curiosity.

"My boss." She replied flatly, the relief wearing off.

Rachel looked at the girl a little stunned. Quinn working? At a bookstore? It just didn't seem to fit, but what did she really know about Quinn anyway? The brunette had just been glad that junior year ended on good terms with the moody ex-cheerleader. Sure, she may have won Finn in the end, but by the last day of school it didn't even seem to faze Quinn when the two held hands or did a duet together. "So, you're working here for the summer? That's nice."

Picking herself off the floor, Quinn nodded and quickly eyed Rachel up and down. The girl seemed thinner and shorter, if that was possible. Her eyes seemed to droop as though she hadn't slept in days. Feeling bad for the girl, Quinn decided she could try and be nice no matter how much the brunette bothered her. "So, what brings you to the most deserted section of the bookstore?"

"Well, my fathers are taking me to New York City at the end of the summer and they wanted all the information I could find. Of course I insisted that we didn't need any since I know that city back and forth, but they forced me to come and find some informational books." Rachel grinned and bit her lip when she realized that Quinn didn't really care. "Uh, could you help me find some?"

Quinn crouched down and found the section filled with books about New York City. She finally settled on two that seemed fitting for the Berrys. "Here." Quinn handed over the books and gave a soft smile. It felt weird talking to one of her peers during the summer since she hadn't really seen anyone since school ended. She'd hung out with Santana and Brittany once, but ended up feeling like the third wheel and didn't be put in that situation again. She'd also hung out with Sam twice, but it was clear he wanted something more than a friendship and Quinn was not into that idea.

"Thanks!"

The girls then stood there, unsure what to say next. "How's your summer been?" Quinn asked as she leaned up against the bookshelf.

"It's been ..." Rachel racked her brain for what to say. 'Good' felt like such a lie and 'fine' was a word Rachel Berry wouldn't use. In all honestly, the past four weeks of summer weren't the best. "It's been nice."

Quinn tilted her head to the side and cocked her eyebrow not believing what the girl had just said. It was clear on the shorter girl's face that her summer hadn't been 'nice'. It was also evident in the droopy eyes, the faulty smile, and her eye's lack of sparkle. "You don't expect me to believe that, right?"

Rachel looked away not wanting to talk about what was upsetting her and pretended to be interested in the cover of 'What's in Ireland?'. "I swear Quinn, my summer has been great. Wait, no, really great!" She nodded with enthusiasm.

"Please Rachel, I can tell when you're lying."

"I don't appreciate you accusing me of lying." Rachel stood up straighter. "How's _your_ summer been, Quinn?" she asked with slight irritation.

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly? Boring." Lately Quinn's days consisted of working at the bookstore and then going home to her mom who kept trying to cheer the blonde up by taking her shopping or renting Quinn's favorite movie, Gone With the Wind. She was happy with her mom's change, the woman was actually trying to be a good mother, but she missed hanging out with people her own age. Maybe she could try to make an effort with Mercedes, but that felt so forced now. The two had drifted apart once Quinn left her house and for some reason both girls never made the effort to maintain it. "My summer has been shit. My mother is driving me crazy, Sam's constant texts are irritating, Santana and Brittany are in their own little world, and I'm at this fucking book store." Quinn spat with frustration that had been pent up inside of her since school ended.

A surprised, almost scared, looking Rachel backed up a few steps and instinctually held her hands up. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked hesitantly and then gave an encouraging smile. Rachel instantly saw this as an opportunity for Quinn and her to be friends.

The blonde eyed Rachel wishing she could swipe that grin off her face, but then realized how great it felt talking to someone. Even if it was Rachel Berry. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to listen to my problems." Quinn sighed with indifference and played toyed at the book in her hands.

"Of course I want to listen. Even though we haven't always been the best of terms, I still consider you my friend." Rachel rested her hand on Quinn's arm.

Having spent the past four weeks of summer with Finn Hudson and her fathers, it felt so nice to talk to a girl. Hell, she even missed Quinn. Rachel felt there had been few moments when she really saw the blonde for who she was, a brave and courageous person. Often Quinn's insecurities and desire to be popular overshadowed those admirable qualities, but Rachel knew that there was some one really special beneath those flaws. "My fathers are cooking dinner tonight. Would you want to come over, hang out?" Rachel spoke quickly, unsure of what she doing, but she just really wanted a friend right now. A friend named Quinn Fabray. "You can say no if you'd like. I would understand. They're making this dish with corn and tofu. It's really-"

"Alright, I get it Berry." Quinn giggled at the rambling girl in front of her and wore a look of disgust at the sound of tofu. When she caught Rachel's reaction to Quinn's scrunched up face, Quinn instantly felt bad. "As much fun as that sounds I'm going to have to turn down that offer. Tofu's not really my thing."

"Oh. That's fine." Rachel gave her a mega-watt smile as though the Quinn's decline didn't affect her.

"But my mother's having a party tonight if you'd like to join. Actually, I'd really like if you came. I don't know if I could handle those people alone." In that moment Quinn had never seen Rachel's face light up so much and so she took that as a yes. "Come around seven."

"Really" That sounds great." Rachel nodded and held the books tightly with excitement. "Should I eat before or will there be food fit to my diet?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and assured Rachel there'd be food for her. "And wear something nice Berry. No animal sweaters or plaid."

"Of course, Quinn." Rachel stuck her tongue out and headed towards the cashier.

x - x - x

"What's wrong with plaid?" Rachel asked herself as she stood in front of the mirror. Plaid was classy and sophisticated. With an annoyed sigh, Rachel shimmied out of her skirt and searched through her closet for something to wear to the Fabray's. If she had a shot at becoming Quinn's friend she knew she knew things needed to go over smoothly tonight. She didn't think she could handle another conversation about X-box with Finn. Finn ... Rachel had experienced a whole different side of the jock once summer rolled around. He was different, more temperamental and he often took his anger out on Rachel. To Rachel's luck, Burt Hummel was taking Finn out to some sports game tonight and knew that the boy wouldn't be bothering her.

Rachel's eyes finally fell upon the little black dress she had purchased a while back, but never worn. Slipping it on, Rachel felt the tight dress fit along her curves and stepped in front of the mirror. She felt good in it, pretty even. Feeling it would be a little too much for the party tonight, Rachel slipped on a light cardigan that covered her bare shoulders and closed one button."No animal sweaters. Check. No plaid. Check."

x - x - x

"I hate Rachel Berry. I hate her, I hate her, I hate her." Quinn Fabray muttered as she threw the kitchen towel on the ground. For the past forty minutes she had been trying to cook a vegetarian dish for Rachel, but unfortunately Quinn had no cooking skills.

"Sweetie, let me take over." Her mother, Judy, giggled at the girl's sad attempt. Looking into the dish, Judy tried to figure out what her daughter was attempting to make, but it looked like slush. "I'm sure I ordered some sort of pasta dish without meat." Judy shut the stove off and gave her daughter a suspicious look.

"What?" Quinn asked with confusion and crossed her arms. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, I just find it surprising that you went out of your way to cook for this girl who you seemed to really dislike three months ago."

Quinn shifted uncomfortably and shrugged her shoulders. "I should go get ready." She mumbled and headed up to her bedroom not wanting to go into that conversation.

After quickly taking a shower, Quinn sat on her roof to let her shoulder length hair dry naturally. This was her favorite spot in all of Lima thanks to the privacy and feeling of security it gave her. She vividly remembered an eight year old version of herself sitting on this roof in an attempt of blocking out the sounds of her parent's fights. It pained her to think about the memories of her mother agreeing to her father's degrading demands and promised herself she would never marry someone like him.

It sometimes pained Quinn to see the way Finn treated Rachel, like she was below him. Of course Finn understood the talent and beauty that was Rachel Berry, but she felt he never appreciated it enough. If in twenty years, the two were still together, Quinn could see Finn treating Rachel the way her father treated her mother and that really bothered her. Sure Quinn had been with Finn, but she had never been in love with him, at least not the second time and knew she could come out of that relation unscathed, but could Rachel? That girl just seemed so damn attached to him.

Quinn finally dragged herself threw the window and over to her closet in search of something to wear tonight. With one quick look she decided on one of her white summer dresses. It was simple and fine for tonight. Who did she really have to impress anyway?

Three hours later, Quinn gave her fake 'it's-really-great-to-see-you-even-though-I-don't-know-who-you-are' smiles to one of her mom's co-workers and even gave a cute shrug of her shoulders to make it look like she was genuinely pleased.

"Oh, Daniel." Judy playfully slapped the man's arm at some compliment he had just payed her. "If you're thirsty we have an open bar in the back."

"Perfect." The man grinned at Quinn and received an eye roll.

Where the hell was Rachel? It was already seven thirty and she knew the tiny brunette was never late. Quinn was tired of having to falsely smile and pretend like she was interested in cars or what colleges they had attended back in the day. "Quinnie, follow me." Judy dragged the blonde over to a family of three. "Mason and Sarah, so glad you came."

"Judy, there you are." The woman kissed Judy's cheek. "This is our son, Lucas."

Quinn eyed her mother once she figured out was going on. The three parents gave each other glances of excitement as Lucas extended his hand towards Quinn. "Hey." He gave a toothy grin and Quinn did everything to keep from laughing. "So, you're Quinn?"

"I'm Quinn." She responded and tried to ignore the looks she was receiving from her mother.

"I've seen you cheer at football games. I go to Carmel." Lucas told the blonde. "You were really good." He smiled and let go of her hand. Lucas was tall, nicely built, and had perfectly brushed chestnut locks.

She could tell from the silence of her mother that she had hopes of these two becoming more than friends. _Sorry mom, but this is definitely not going to happen._

"Let's go get some wine and leave these two kids to talk." Judy gave a thumbs up to Quinn and motioned for Lucas's parents to follow.

Quinn tapped her foot with annoyance and picked at the nail polish on her fingers. Sure, this guy seemed nice, but she really wasn't interested in anything right now. She was sick of dealing with boys and their stupid boy logic. It became infuriating.

"Do you still cheerlead?" Lucas asked Quinn in hopes of starting a meaningful conversation.

"No. The coach was a bitch." Quinn sighed and looked at the door. _Where the hell is Rachel? I swear to God, if she doesn't show up within the next ten minutes I'm putting meat in her pasta. _

"Yeah, Sylvester, right? She seems a little crazy. I remember seeing her on the news when she had that -" Lucas paused midway, his eyes instantly falling on someone other than Quinn. "Oh. Wow."

Quinn quickly turned to see what the boy was the staring at. When she noticed what had caught the boy's gaze, her jaw fell agape and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my - Rachel?"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for much for the reviews. I love to hear feedback and comments!

Sorry for such a short chapter.

"Oh great." Rachel muttered as she glanced at the time on her car's dashboard. She was late due to the fact that it was impossible to find a parking spot within a close range of Quinn's house. Giving up, Rachel parked a ways down the block and jogged her way to Quinn's. "Just my luck."

With Quinn's house finally in site, Rachel slowed her pace and realized how balmy the air was tonight. She could feel beads of sweat dripping down her face and wished she had worn a thinner cardigan. Before stepping inside, Rachel smoothed her hair, fixed her slightly fallen dress, and slipped on the pair of one inch heels she was holding.

Air condition. Rachel smiled with happiness as she entered the beautifully decorated house. The layout was gorgeous and Rachel appreciated the warm hues that the house was fixed in. While captivated in the decor, a man who obviously had spent too much time at the open bar knocked into Rachel. "Fuck." He cursed as his drink went spilling onto Rachel's back. "My fault."

"Yes, this is precisely your fault." Rachel squealed and stripped off the drenched cardigan.

"At least you're wearing a black dress." The man in his fifties gave a weak smile and went off in the other direction.

_This is not my night_.

Rachel scanned the room in search of Quinn, but it was hard to spot a single person in the mass of men in suits and women in summer dresses. Making her way to the back, Rachel felt pairs of eyes on her and became insecure as she realized how scantily dressed she was without the cardigan on. Slipping it back on, Rachel became a little dizzy from the strong smell of wine and pulled it back off. She then threw it in one of those vase things and went back to her search for Quinn.

"Oh my - Rachel?"

Rachel turned to the voice and saw Quinn gaping at her and a boy behind her who seemed to be doing the same.

"Hi Quinn, sorry I'm late. I couldn't find a parking spot and then I had to jog here. Oh, and some man spilt wine all over me so I had to take the cardigan I was wearing off. I know I look like a mess right now, but I'm sorry. I promise I didn't look like this twenty minutes ago." Rachel rambled on not being stopped by either Quinn or the boy.

Quinn just stood nodding her head like a fool at the sight of Rachel in front of her. Who was this girl? Rachel's hair was a little messy, her cheeks pink, and that dress ... well that dress was a whole other story. The girl's bare shoulders showed that the girl that been tanning this summer and that dress hung to all the right places. **All **the right places.

"Um, Quinn?"

"Yes." Quinn responded hazily and then remembered where she was and who she was with. "Maybe you should change. Not that you don't look nice and all, but - uh - just ..." She muttered to the brunette and suddenly remembered Lucas. "It was nice talking with you." Quinn brushed the boy off and led Rachel upstairs.

"Who was that?" Rachel teasingly questioned as Quinn went through her closet in search of something for Rachel."

"No one."

"He didn't look like a no one." Quinn turned around and gave Rachel a look. "Alright, he's a no one." She giggled.

Quinn laughed along and finally pulled out one of her dresses from a year or two ago. "Here, it should fit." Before handing it Rachel she gave the girl one last long look. _Why does Finn Hudson of all guys get to have her? _Quinn then bit her lip as she tried to shut the thoughts that were sounding off in her head. "You can change in the bathroom.

Collapsing on the bed, Quinn tried to shut out the voice in her head. The one that kept giving Rachel all these compliments, the one that kept telling Quinn to let Rachel wear that dress a little longer. Quinn gave up though, it was Rachel and soon enough the girl would probably do something to annoy the daylights out of her.

"Better?" Rachel stepped out of the bathroom, the dress a little too long, but thankfully a lot more appropriate than the other.

"Mhmm."

Rachel lied down beside Quinn and deeply sighed. "Thanks for inviting me tonight. I haven't really seen anyone besides Finn and I sort of missed hanging out with a girl. Too much testosterone is never a good thing. "

"Agreed." Quinn responded and glanced sideways at the girl. "Rachel?"

"Yes, Quinn?"

"I know I've been horrible to you in the past, but I was wondering if you would forgive me." The blonde felt that with senior year coming up, it was finally time to settle things with Rachel. No more competing, no more viciousness. What was the point? Quinn had no more reasons to be mean to the girl.

"Of course I forgive you." Rachel reached out towards Quinn and rested her hand on the taller girl's wrist.

Quinn went to grab Rachel's hand to so that she truly was ready to move on from the past, but felt it would crossing boundaries. While looking into Rachel's big brown eyes, a question that had been resting on Quinn's mind was ready to be asked. "How's your relationship with Finn going?"

Rachel gave Quinn a hesitant look and pulled back a little. She didn't want to talk to about Finn, she wanted all that stupid stuff to be forgotten about tonight and just hang out with the pretty blonde beside her. "Can we save that discussion for another time? I'm starving." She sat up and tugged on Quinn's hand.

Back downstairs the two girls grabbed plates of food and Quinn was pleased with Rachel's reaction to the pasta that was being served. Settling on a lone couch in the corner, the two girls chowed down their food quickly and chatted about their trip to New York. "I'm sorry Rachel, but how did you not realize that those Cats tickets were fake?" Quinn giggled at the memory of Rachel getting all excited about a play that went off broadway.

"I was drunk off of love Quinn."

"Your love for Finn?" Quinn asked sharply without intention.

"No silly. My love for New York City." Rachel shouted and went back to her food. She had noted the harshness in Quinn's voice and wondered if the blonde was truly over Finn. He was her first love after all.

"There you are sweetie." Mrs. Fabray came over to the two girls and smiled pleasantly. "You must be Rachel."

"Yes Mrs. Fabray. Your house is lovely."

"Why, thank you." Judy beamed. She was always fond of her house and really appreciated the compliments she received about the decor. "How are you liking the pasta?"

Rachel held up her clean plate to show how delicious it was. "Amazing."

"Oh good. I was afraid that whatever Quinn was cooking earlier for you might have been poison."

"Mom." Quinn motioned for her to stop speaking, but Rachel's curious eyes widened as she waited for Mrs. Fabray to continue on.

"You should have seen Quinn trying to cook. It was one of the funniest sights." Judy laughed at the thought. "Let's just hope you end up with someone that can cook honey." Standing up, Judy said something about having to go mingle and made her way through the web of people.

Rachel playfully grinned at the pink cheeked blonde. The thought of Quinn cooking for her made her smile more than anything and could picture the girl dressed in a white apron with ingredients all over the place. "Awh, Quinn Fabray actually went out of her way to cook for Rachel Berry? I think this a breakthrough. We shall celebrate!"

Quinn gave the brunette a dirty look before turning away in attempts to hide her blushed cheeks. "Wait here." Quinn ordered before grabbing both their plates and placing them in the trash. "Two glasses of champagne." Quinn told the man behind the open bar who gave her a questioning look. "Please." She leaned in sexily which caused the bartender to spill a cup of olives.

While waiting for the man to pour the drinks, Quinn peaked over at Rachel who sat with a smile placed on her innocent face. To anyone in this room, she looked fine, if anything, very happy, but Quinn saw past the smile and dazzling brown eyes. She knew something was different about Rachel, maybe not life-shattering different, but enough to make Rachel just ... different.

Growing impatient, Rachel scanned the room for Quinn with curiosity as to what was taking the girl so long. Maybe she was talking to that boy, he was very attractive and Quinn never stayed single for too long so why wouldn't she go for him? He seemed to have that alpha male thing going for him, something Quinn obviously liked in her men. As the idea of Quinn ditching Rachel for the boy became more sensible to her, Rachel felt a little jealous.

"Follow me." Quinn whispered in Rachel's ear before making her way through the throng of people.

Being knocked out of her negative thoughts, Rachel quickly got behind her. "Where are we going?" Rachel asked as she saw the devilish grin on Quinn's face and the two glasses she was holding.

"Just follow." Quinn shook her head at the nosey brunette. Once she reached the back door, she pushed Rachel through and followed behind. "Here." She handed the slender champagne glass to the hesitant brunette.

Walking carefully, the two girls made their way to the old play set in the Fabray's yard and each took a seat on one of the red plastic swings. Rachel looked at the drink as though it were poison, but quickly took a sip once she saw Quinn's warning expression. The last she had alcohol was the night she had made out with Blaine and discovered how 'clingy' ( according to Finn ) she was when drunk. "We should toast!"

"To what?"

Rachel bit her lip as she tried to come up with something. "To ... To our newfound friendship."

"So, we're friends?"

"Well ... uh, I didn't mean to assume things. Assuming makes an ass out of you and -"

"I'm just kidding Rachel." She laughed and clinked Rachel's glass. "To being friends." Taking a long sip, Quinn felt the alcohol burn down her throat and felt her limbs loosen. Smiling at Rachel, she encouraged the girl to take another sip. It was part of her plan.

Rachel may talk a lot ... even more than a lot, but it seemed that the girl had a hard time talking about the things that were really hurting her and right now Quinn could tell something was up with Rachel. If getting the brunette a little tipsy was a way of finding out that information then she had to do what she had to do. "I shouldn't be drinking this. I drove here and-"

"No worries. You can stay over."

Two glasses of champagne later, the girls found themselves lying on the grass looking up the full moon that shone eerily above. The sounds of classical music and good byes from party goers could be heard in the background, but all Rachel focused on was the humming that came from the blonde beside her. It was so quiet that Rachel wondered if Quinn even realized she was doing it.

"Can I ask you something as a friend?" Quinn turned her head towards Rachel, knocking the girl out of her hypnosis to Quinn's humming. "Is everything okay? Please don't proceed to tell me how your fine and how everything is just dandy because I can tell something is wrong."

"Dandy?" Rachel giggled. "Who uses the word dandy?"

"Don't try and change the subject."

Rachel wished she could sink in the ground and end up somewhere else. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to talk about her relationship with Finn or the stress he was putting on her. In the past two weeks she had slept through her alarm clock twice. TWICE. Rachel Berry never slept through her alarm. "Quinn ..."

"Is it Finn? Is he hurting you physically?" Quinn sat up, her face void of a smile. If there was anything she was against, it was abuse, both mentally and physically. She had seen what it did to her mother and would never wish that pain upon her worst enemy.

"Of course not!" Rachel shot up. "He has never laid a hand on me. Why would even assume such as thing?" She asked with slight anger. Quinn had no right in accusing her boyfriend of physical abuse.

"You're skinnier Rachel." Quinn grabbed Rachel's' bony wrist and held it up. "You have dark circles under your eyes and you talk a lot less. I can tell something's wrong."

Rachel looked anywhere else but Quinn's face. She knew that if she looked into the blonde's mesmerizing hazel eyes she would crack. She could feel the tears starting to form in her the corners of her eyes and that tight feeling that kept growing in her throat.

"Look at me Rachel." Quinn yelled with frustration and grabbed the girl's chin in order for her to look up. "I'm your friend now. Please tell me what's wrong."

Cracked, broken, unlocked. Once Rachel looked into Quinn's eyes she knew she couldn't stop the words that were already curled up on her tongue. "My relationship with Finn has been difficult these past few weeks. His temper has been a little out of hand. No, he has not been physically hurting me, but sometimes he'll throw a book or two and of course I get scared. Finn doesn't mean it though. Once he calms down he apologizes and sometimes he'll even buy me a rose or chocolate."

By the time Rachel was done speaking, Quinn's left hand was curled with Rachel's and her right hand was running through her brown hair. "Rachel, that's not a healthy relationship."

"But he loves me, Quinn, and I love him."

Quinn wiped away the tears falling down Rachel's cheeks. "He can hurt you Rachel. Maybe not now, but what happens that one time when you do something that really upsets him? Look at you Rachel, look at what he's doing to you. You don't deserve that."

Rachel nodded and found her way into Quinn's arms. She quietly cried while the blonde just stroked her hair. "Please don't tell anyone."

"Of course not." Quinn assured the shaking girl. Even though she still had issues to address with Rachel about Finn, she felt that tonight wasn't right and led the girl up to her room. Handing the girl a pair of shorts and t-shirt, she quickly changed as well.

Rachel emerged from the bathroom and smiled at Quinn Fabray. "Thanks for listening to me."

"That's what friends are for."


End file.
